7. Europe’s Green Investment Requirements and the Role of Next Generation EU

The EU countries’ priorities on climate and environmental spending, as reflected in the allocations of the Recovery and Resilience funds, are assessed in Chapter 7 by K. Lenaerts, S. Tagliapietra, and G. B. Wolff. The results suggest that the priorities differ significantly. Also, broader estimates of the required investments are provided, and these indicate that annual investments in energy and green tech must increase by 2 percentage points of GDP to reach climate neutrality by 2050, both globally and in Europe. Policies, therefore, must focus on boosting private investment and creating a viable green tech sector.